# Philopatium > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Philopatium > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Philopatium.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philopatium > Source revision: 1254400802 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Former palace in Constantinople}} {{Coord|41.030|N|28.920|E|display=title}} '''Philopatium''' or '''Philopation''' ({{langx|el|Φιλοπάτιον}}) was the name of a palace and region outside the walls of the [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine) capital [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople) (modern [Istanbul](/source/Istanbul), [Turkey](/source/Turkey)), known for its parks and gardens. According to 11th-century accounts, it was located north of Constantinople, just outside the [Blachernae](/source/Blachernae) walls. Competing accounts{{Clarify|date=November 2009}} place it seaward of the [Golden Gate](/source/Golden_Gate_(Constantinople)). ==Residence of Justinian I and Theodora== The place was loved by [Justinian](/source/Justinian) and [Theodora](/source/Theodora_(6th_century)), and served as a spring or summer retreat for the [Byzantine emperors](/source/Byzantine_emperors) after them. The 6th-century historian [Procopius](/source/Procopius) describes it as "A luxuriant forest of cypresses, verdant and flowery slopes, a spring noiselessly pouring forth its calm and refreshing waters, these are the features which beseem that sacred spot." Near the centre of the plain is the spring called the [Life-giving Spring](/source/Life-giving_Spring) (Ζωοδόχος Πηγή, ''Zoodochos Pege''). When it was reported that a blind man had been restored to sight at the touch of its waters, [Leo I](/source/Leo_I_(emperor)) erected a [church](/source/Church_of_St._Mary_of_the_Spring_(Istanbul)) over the spring. Justinian, believing that a bath in the spring had cured him of [calculus](/source/Calculus_(medicine)), thriftily enlarged the church by means of the superfluous material that remained after the completion of [Hagia Sophia](/source/Hagia_Sophia). Twice destroyed by earthquake, it was successively rebuilt by [Irene of Athens](/source/Irene_of_Athens), wife of [Leo IV](/source/Leo_IV_the_Khazar), in the 8th century, and by [Basil I](/source/Basil_I) one hundred years later. ==Burning and restoration== The Bulgarian Tsar [Simeon](/source/Simeon_I_of_Bulgaria), during one of his raids in the early 10th century, burnt it to the ground, and on his departure it was restored with added splendor by [Romanos I Lekapenos](/source/Romanos_I_Lekapenos). A generation later [King Peter](/source/Peter_I_of_Bulgaria), the son of Simeon, wedded at its altar the granddaughter of that same Romanos. There too was solemnized the still more brilliant wedding of the youthful Emperor [John V](/source/John_V_Palaiologos), and [Helena](/source/Helena_Kantakouzene), the bewitching daughter of [John VI Kantakouzenos](/source/John_VI_Kantakouzenos). ==Second Crusade== Near the church was the Palace of the Pege, or of the Spring, to which the emperors annually removed on [Ascension Day](/source/Ascension_Day), and where they devoted a few weeks to their health. During the [Second Crusade](/source/Second_Crusade), King [Louis VII](/source/Louis_VII_of_France) of France and his wife, Queen [Eleanor of Aquitaine](/source/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine), were for several weeks lodged there. ==House arrest of Maria of Antioch== In 1182 [Andronikos Komnenos](/source/Andronikos_I_Komnenos) put Empress Dowager [Maria of Antioch](/source/Maria_of_Antioch) under [house arrest](/source/house_arrest) in the palace, before her imprisonment in a dungeon and execution. ==Headquarters of Murad II== Not a vestige of the palace exists. Here were the headquarters of Ottoman Sultan [Murad II](/source/Murad_II) during his unsuccessful [three months' siege](/source/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1422)) of Constantinople in 1422. The church was greatly injured at the time, but not entirely destroyed until after the victory of [Mehmed II](/source/Mehmed_II). ==Fate of the church== The site of the church (nowadays the suburb of [Balıklı](/source/Bal%C4%B1kl%C4%B1%2C_Istanbul)) remained in Greek Orthodox hands throughout the Ottoman period, becoming the site of a [patriarchal](/source/Patriarchate_of_Constantinople) hospital in the 18th century. The church was destroyed again by [Janissaries](/source/Janissaries) in 1825, and rebuilt in 1833. The cemetery of the church serves as the principal Orthodox cemetery of the city, housing the tombs of many patriarchs. ==References== *Grosvenor, Edwin Augustus, ''[Constantinople](/source/iarchive%3Aconstantinople02grosiala%2Fpage%2F484%2Fmode%2F2up)'' (1895), p. 485. * Antony Robert Littlewood, Henry Maguire, Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn, ''Byzantine garden culture'', Dumbarton Oaks, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-88402-280-0}}, p. 73. Category:Byzantine palaces Category:Quarters and suburbs of Constantinople Category:Justinian I Category:Burned buildings and structures in Turkey Category:Second Crusade Category:Zeytinburnu Category:Eleanor of Aquitaine --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Philopatium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philopatium) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philopatium?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.